Josh Trent argues that modern society lacks meaningful rites of passage for adolescents (ages ~13–18), which leaves young people without self-reliance, spiritual integration, or understanding of nature. He warns this absence produces unintegrated adults and societal risks, and issues a loving call-to-action for individuals to undertake or restore active rites of passage.
Chapters
There's really no ceremony for 13 through 18 year old young men or young women. It just like doesn't exist, you know. And so the sadness around that for me is like we're in a society that's so connected, we have all these trappings, all this digital tech where we're quote, connected. But no, it really makes me sad that no young man is being put through an ordeal. Like the hero's journey starts at some kind of tertiary point later on where they get a job and they learn how to pay bills and all this stuff. But there's no understanding of nature, there's no understanding, understanding of who they are in that self reliance. It just doesn't exist. And, and it's definitely a loving call to arms for us, especially with what's coming in the world right now with food and with potential future lockdowns and all this, that we all take it upon ourselves to go through a active rite of passage. You know, it's missing. I know you're a father and maybe your sons have done that in some way, but holy are we just looking at a cavern of space that's missing. You know, the rite of passage is gone. So I think beyond just the spiritual benefits of, of doing a quest and the ordeal of being on the mountain, you guys, like we really have to take a high level look at our society and go, where are the rites of passages for young men and young women? Because they're going to grow up traumatized. And then you have like the Donald Trumps and the Joseph Bidens running the country and they've never themselves actually looked at their own self reliance. They're just in a system that feeds them whatever they want to hear. And that's the danger of unintegrated men and women and men and women that have not been through this ultimate rite of passage. It's super necessary, Sam.
